“We’re not going to influence anyone to hire him.”
“If you don’t, he’s going to use my past to bribe me into paying him.”
“Why would he want money?” he asked, not following.
She nibbled her lower lip and then looked away from him. “There is no easy way to say this, Nate. I made a very stupid decision several years ago and had an affair with him when he was a judge for the World Competitive Dance Federation. That’s why I got kicked off the tour and banned from competition.”
“What?”
She wrapped her arms around her waist and spoke so softly he had to lean forward to hear her.
“I know it was a stupid thing to do but I never asked him to cheat or do anything like that. We seemed to have a lot in common and I thought we were friends.”
Nate drew her closer to him. He didn’t like what he was hearing. “You had an affair with Carlos?”
“Yes. Tonight I had hoped he was here to help me clear my name. Remember, I told you the night we met that the board had denied my last appeal. But Carlos didn’t come to help me.”
Nate put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Instead, he wants money from you or what?”
“He said that the local leaders are already angry with the club and that if we don’t help him, his word will be all it takes to ruin your business dealings.”
Nate was angry. Carlos was an idiot if he thought he could intimidate one of the Luna Azul employees. It didn’t matter that he himself was involved with Jen; the Stern brothers would stand by any of their employees, as long as they hadn’t broken the law.
“Okay, here is what we are going to do. Justin is not only a financial wizard but he is also a lawyer—our corporate lawyer—and he’s very good at what he does. I’m going to call him and we are going to figure out how to stop Carlos.”
Jen pulled back. “I don’t want everyone to know that I had an affair with him.”
“I don’t see why anyone has to know that besides Justin. He’s smart about these kinds of things,” Nate said, remembering that Justin had helped Cam with a false paternity suit years ago. “Let me talk to him and we’ll figure this out. You aren’t helping Carlos or paying him a single dime and we are going to get your good name back.”
“I don’t want to hurt the club,” she said.
“You won’t,” he assured her. “When are you supposed to help him?”
“I don’t know. I’m supposed to meet him at the Hallandale dance competition and let him know my decision.”
That didn’t leave a lot of time. “We need to meet with Justin as soon as possible and get his thoughts on this. Frankly, the only solution I can think of is beating the crap out of Carlos. It would make me feel better but I doubt it would help the situation.”
She smiled at him. “You’d beat him up for me?”
“Sure would. I don’t like guys who threaten women.”
She leaned up and kissed him. “Thank you. That’s one of the sweetest things anyone has ever offered to do for me.”
“Not a problem, honey,” Nate said. He wasn’t kidding about hurting Carlos. Normally, Nate wasn’t a violent man but to think of someone who’d been intimate with Jen and betrayed her then come back into her life to twist the knife…well, it made him livid. “I’m going to give Justin a call.”
She nodded. “If you think that’s the best idea, then okay.”
“I think it’s the only solution. Blackmailers are only successful when someone is willing to pay them. We need to stop this now before it gets out of control.”
“I agree. I want him out of my life forever. I am so tired of him screwing me.”
“We’re going to take care of it,” Nate said.
He called Justin’s cell and his brother answered on the first ring. “We need to talk.”
“Now?” Justin asked.
“Yes. Jen just received a blackmail threat and I want it eliminated.”
“What are the circumstances?” Justin asked.
“Can you come to my yacht and we can talk there?” Nate asked. He thought they needed to get the details hammered out tonight.
“I can. Give me about forty-five minutes to get there.”
“That’s fine. I’ve got Jen with me. Thanks, Justin,” Nate said.
“Do you want me to call Cam or are you going to?” Justin asked.
“I’ll call him,” Nate said. “See you later.”
He hung up and turned to Jen. “Justin is going to meet us in forty-five minutes at the yacht.”
“Who else do you have to call?”